A&M’s Matthews, Evans go back-to-back in NFL draft’s first round

COLLEGE STATION – Offensive tackle Jake Matthews grew up near Houston in a comfortable home thanks in part to his deep football bloodlines that include an NFL Hall of Famer in his father, Bruce Matthews. Receiver Mike Evans grew up an hour south of Matthews in Galveston in what Evans has described as rugged surroundings, and he didn’t even give football a try until a senior at Ball High School.

Just as they’d come together at Kyle Field for the past two seasons, however, the strapping young men from varying backgrounds came together under one roof on Thursday night, helping make it a memorable NFL draft for Texas A&M in New York’s Radio City Music Hall. To boot, the talented duo even wound up shoulder to shoulder in the pecking order.

The Atlanta Falcons selected Matthews with the sixth overall pick, and Evans followed at No. 7 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Meanwhile and surprisingly considering many experts predicted Johnny Manziel would be selected in the top 10, the Cleveland Browns nabbed the star quarterback with the 22nd overall pick.

Matthews, an Elkins High product, already was starting as a freshman at A&M when Evans was a senior at Ball and Manziel a senior at Kerrville Tivy in 2010.

“Jake is the epitome of toughness,” A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. “He never missed a game or a day of practice.”
Matthews stuck around all four seasons at A&M, even as fellow tackle Luke Joeckel (from the same 2010 recruiting class) was the NFL draft’s second overall selection a year ago to Jacksonville.

“We’re all so proud of Jake,” his father, Bruce, said late Thursday night. “We’re also excited he’s going to Atlanta. It’s a team that’s close to being good, even though they had a bad year last year (4-12). They’ve got a franchise quarterback (in Matt Ryan), and they’re going to bounce back real soon.

“Obviously you want to get drafted as high as you can, but sometimes that means going to a franchise that’s rebuilding – I know I went through that with the Oilers. That isn’t the case with this team.”

Jake one-upped his famous father, too, as Bruce was the ninth overall selection to the Houston Oilers (now the Tennessee Titans) in 1983.

“One thing I can rub in my dad’s face is I got drafted higher than him,” Jake kidded on Thursday night. “But he was a great player, and I’ve still got a long way to go to catch up to where he is.”

As for Evans, he should provide immediate help to a Buccaneers squad that also finished 4-12 in 2013. Evans, who passed on a basketball scholarship offer from the Texas Longhorns to accept a football scholarship to A&M in 2011, set the Aggies’ record in both receiving yards in a game (287) and season (1,394), despite not giving organized football a try until his last year at Ball.

“I can’t wait to get to work in Tampa, it’s a great city,” Evans told the NFL Network. “I can’t wait to meet all my teammates, and learn from Vincent Jackson.”

Jackson, 31, is the same size as Evans at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, suddenly giving the Bucs a formidable (and lengthy) one-two punch at receiver.